18 Killed after Air India Express Flight Overshoots Runway at Kozhikode and Snaps into Two

At least 18 people including both pilots were killed after an Air India Express plane with more than 190 on board skidded off the runway on Friday at the Karipur airport in Kozhikode in Kerala. Officials said 16 of the 172 injured are in a critical condition. The plane, part of the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate Indian nationals from overseas during the coronavirus lockdown, skidded off the tabletop runway and fell into a 35 feet deep valley breaking into two portions.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on twitter, he was deeply anguished and distressed at the accident and that relief teams from Air India and Airports Authority of India (AAI) have been dispatched from Delhi and Mumbai. All efforts are being made to help passengers. A formal enquiry will be conducted by AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau).

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told national broadcaster DD News, because of the weather conditions, he could not land the first time, so he did a turnaround and tried to approach it from a different direction. The crash appears to have been caused by a slippery runway.

NDRF Director General SN Pradhan said, we must remember that it is a tabletop runway at Kozhikode. There seems to have been injuries among all the passengers and some of them are unconscious.

An air traffic controller said, luckily the aircraft which took off from Dubai at 2 pm and was scheduled to land in Kozhikode at 7.27 pm didn’t catch fire. We immediately started rescue efforts with the support of local people.

According to officials of the Kerala Police all the 172 injured have been shifted to various hospitals nearby. It had been raining heavily at the time of the accident.

Air India Express said in a statement, Air India Express flight IX 1344 operated by B737 aircraft from Dubai to Calicut overshot runway at Kozhikode at 19:41 hours tonight. No fire reported at the time of landing. There are 174 passengers, 10 infants, two pilots and five cabin crew on board the aircraft. Due to crash landing of the flight, it may affect the network but the Vande Bharat Mission continues.

India's top aviation body, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has ordered a detailed inquiry into the matter. The plane broke into two pieces after landing at the airport.

The regulator said, the flight IX 1344 continued running to the end of the runway amid heavy rain and "fell down in the valley and broke down in two pieces.

DGCA Director Arun Kumar told CNN-News18, the aircraft didn’t land properly. It was raining heavily, it then skid off the runway and fell into a 35ft valley. Two dead is what we know as per initial reports but the rescue operation is on. We are ascertaining the situation.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on twitter, he has instructed the police and fire force to take urgent action. Have also directed the officials to make necessary arrangements for rescue and medical support.

Kerala Chief Minister's Office (CMO) in a statement Minister AC Moideen will lead the rescue efforts at the Kozhikode International Airport. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Vijayan on phone about the crash where he was informed that a team of officials, including the Kozhikode and Malappuram District Collectors and Inspector General IG Ashok Yadav, have arrived at the airport and are participating in the rescue operation, said the . Tweeting about the incident, Modi expressed anguish at the loss of lives.

The Air India Express is a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India and it has only B737 aircraft in its fleet.

Two special relief flights from Delhi and one from Mumbai for rendering humanitarian assistance to all the passengers and the family members of the Air India Express crash-landing incident reached Kozhikode on Saturday. AAIB, DGCA and Flight Safety Departments have reached to investigate the incident, the Air India Express stated. An Air India Express flight took off around 2 am from Delhi to Kozhikode carrying investigating officers from DGCA and AAIB, CEO of Air India express and other officials of AI and AIE.

The second aircraft took off from Mumbai to Kozhikode around 6 am carrying Angels of Air India and GO employees, who will coordinate and liaise with various agencies and provide support and assist families of those affected in this incident. The third flight also took off from Delhi around 6 am carrying the CMD and other senior officials of AI.

Meanwhile, Minister of State (Mos) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Saturday reached Kozhikode. He is likely to meet those injured in the crash and their family members.

A host of Indian film celebrities took to Twitter to express their shock at the tragic loss of lives in Kozhikode, Kerala.

Nine years ago an air safety expert had warned the aviation ministry and the civil aviation regulator about the dangers of permitting passenger aircraft to land on runway 10 of Karipur Airport during rains and unfavourable wind conditions. On Friday, that warning played out word for word after Air India Express pilots landed in tailwind conditions and the aircraft overshot the tabletop runway to drop off the end and crash.

Capt Mohan Ranganathan, in a letter sent on June 17, 2011 to then director general of civil aviation Bharat Bhushan and Nasim Zaidi, chairman of a civil aviation safety advisory committee, which was formed after the May 2010 Mangaluru air crash which killed 158 people said, an aircraft landing on runway 10 in tailwind will experience poor braking action due to heavy rubber deposits … All such flights … are endangering the lives of all on board. My warning issued after the Mangaluru crash was ignored. It is a table top runway with a down slope. The buffer zone at the end of the runway is inadequate. Given the topography, he pointed out, the airport should have a buffer of 240m at the end of the runway, but it only has 90m (which the DGCA had approved). Moreover, the space on either side of the runway is only 75m instead of the mandatory 100m.

Capt Ranganathan said, there is no guideline for operations on a table top runway when it is raining. Runway 10 approach should not be permitted in view of the lack of runway end safety area (RESA) and the terrain beyond the end of the runway. RESA of 240m should be immediately introduced and runway length has to be reduced to make the operations safe.If an aircraft is unable to stop within the runway, there is no RESA beyond the end. The ILS localiser antenna is housed on a concrete structure and the area beyond is a steep slope. The Air India Express accident in Mangalore should have alerted AAI to make the runway conditions safe. We have brought up the issue of RESA during the initial Casac-sub group meetings. We had specifically mentioned that the declared distances for both runways have to be reduced in order to comply with ICAO Annex 14 requirement.

He said, the condition of the runway strip was known to DGCA teams that have been conducting inspection and safety assessments. Have they considered the danger involved? Did the DGCA or the airlines lay down any operational restrictions or special procedures?. The letter also refers to Approach and Landing Accident Reduction (ALAR) training, which is supposed to be mandatory before every monsoon, but airlines don’t follow it. 70% of accidents take place during approach and landing and that is why this training is essential.